Word: newsmen
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Alert, courageous newsmen standing as sentries against the abuse of power?that is the dominant image most journalists have of their Watergate performance. On campuses, any newsman remotely part of the action is assured of a hero's welcome. Applications to journalism schools are at an alltime high, and many of the youngsters say that they want to be investigative reporters. Coverage of Watergate and related scandals has won four Pulitzer Prizes and a number of lesser awards. All the President's Men, the how-we-did-it book by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward of the Washington Post, became...
...people would prefer, if he were alive, to cast Boris Karloff in the role instead. At the very moment of its triumph, the press has become a villain to many, for Watergate has also focused attention on journalism's weaknesses. Despite the accomplishments of the past two years, newsmen have ample reason to feel besieged, and many are torn between self-congratulation and self-doubt...
...newsmen would prefer to identify their sources in print rather than mask them. It is often all too easy for sources to talk without having to take full responsibility for what they say. In many cases, however, attribution is impossible because people who possess highly sensitive information cannot be expected to sacrifice their careers in order to divulge it. A Capitol Hill staffer or an FBI official, for instance, may have evidence of serious abuses that should be aired. If he cannot get a hearing within...
...bureaucracy, his only outlet may be a reporter who will protect his anonymity while publishing the facts. Most newsmen feel that without leaks, the Government would simply control all news about itself...
Those who give out secrets are often serving their own interests. In the late stages of a political campaign, for example, one side will sometimes attempt to smear the opposition when there is no time to reply adequately. Newsmen have an obligation to consider such motives, check the material with the utmost care, and give the person under attack a decent chance to defend himself. Occasionally journalists fail to take these precautions, and the articles that result are unfair or incomplete...